Or it may be Day 2… let me check
For the First time I was actually feeling short of Breath.
“Common Chucky, just a few more steps.”
“A few more?!?!?! Looks like 10,000.”
“Quit Whining, you’ll make it… Hey remember… You're in China at Last!”
Once again I get ahead of myself, I first have to finish last night or as our agenda calls it Day 1.
After checking in and settling into our room on the 11th floor overlooking the rooftops of
Northern Beijing and what may or may not be the Hotel's rooftop tennis court -it is time [as we have been know to do on arrival in a strange country] to head out and look over the immediate neighborhood, perhaps getting lost a bit in the process, maybe find a more trusty electrical converter and most importantly, large quantities of bottled water to stock our room and the car for our tours. The hotel charges a kings ransom for a bottle [as they all do] and we had been advised that the mall just south of the hotel had market that had the same stuff for 50% of the hotel price.Once outside the hotel we were directed
to the Subway entrance which doubles as an underground tunnel to the other side of the busy avenue [did I say BUSY?]… CHAOTIC is more like it, I thought the kamikaze’s of Italy were bad… these folks, including the motor scooters, trucks, buses, Bicycles and even the 
pedestrians all drive and walk as if they have a "Death Wish". All the cars are equipped with that uniquely modern device known as a turn signal of which 99% of the drivers seem to have never been properly instructed as to the benefits of its use…or… perhaps they once tried it to no avail and have since abandoned the idea of ever using it again. They do however have perfect control of the horn and brakes, which I'm sure must have to be replaced every month.
Back to the trek. The Tunnel was interesting and took us to the south side of "Chaos Boulevard" [formally known as “Dong Jiao Min Xiang"…yeah, right… I like "Chaos" better…] as we passed the World Famous Maxim’s Restaurant [one of the original Western Restaurants in Beijing] we spotted the mall and on the way, passed what looked like an interesting Restaurant and we decided to check it out on the way back. The mall is in a massive office building and laid out like a department store with many floors with individual shops lining each floor that weaves in the oddest way around the entire building and includes an ice rink in one quadrant. By now the jet lag had really taken effect on us both and we really struggled to get around the place looking for the bulk water but the tchotchke crazed Dragon Lady just had to “see what’s over there… and lets try over there”… you know the drill. I had finally had it, and declared we had to head back before they had to send a stretcher to get me to the hotel [I have never felt this whipped]
On the way back I realized the interesting restaurant we had passed earlier was the local farmer’s style fresh market [one of the very few true ones left in central Beijing] where you can buy damn near anything you can think of, from fresh fish, eels, Peking Duck, food to go, Liquor, Jewelry, every imaginable fruit and nut… practically anything that begins with an “A”. I spotted the sundry
department and a 12 pack of half liter water bottles for the same price as one bottle at the hotel, hoisted it on my shoulder and trudged back to the Hotel where the Attached Picture was taken at what we assumed to be the corner of Walk and Don’t Walk.
pedestrians all drive and walk as if they have a "Death Wish". All the cars are equipped with that uniquely modern device known as a turn signal of which 99% of the drivers seem to have never been properly instructed as to the benefits of its use…or… perhaps they once tried it to no avail and have since abandoned the idea of ever using it again. They do however have perfect control of the horn and brakes, which I'm sure must have to be replaced every month.Back to the trek. The Tunnel was interesting and took us to the south side of "Chaos Boulevard" [formally known as “Dong Jiao Min Xiang"…yeah, right… I like "Chaos" better…] as we passed the World Famous Maxim’s Restaurant [one of the original Western Restaurants in Beijing] we spotted the mall and on the way, passed what looked like an interesting Restaurant and we decided to check it out on the way back. The mall is in a massive office building and laid out like a department store with many floors with individual shops lining each floor that weaves in the oddest way around the entire building and includes an ice rink in one quadrant. By now the jet lag had really taken effect on us both and we really struggled to get around the place looking for the bulk water but the tchotchke crazed Dragon Lady just had to “see what’s over there… and lets try over there”… you know the drill. I had finally had it, and declared we had to head back before they had to send a stretcher to get me to the hotel [I have never felt this whipped]
On the way back I realized the interesting restaurant we had passed earlier was the local farmer’s style fresh market [one of the very few true ones left in central Beijing] where you can buy damn near anything you can think of, from fresh fish, eels, Peking Duck, food to go, Liquor, Jewelry, every imaginable fruit and nut… practically anything that begins with an “A”. I spotted the sundry
department and a 12 pack of half liter water bottles for the same price as one bottle at the hotel, hoisted it on my shoulder and trudged back to the Hotel where the Attached Picture was taken at what we assumed to be the corner of Walk and Don’t Walk.
Chucky’s first official Pic in Beijing.
I had run down to the Spa for a quick massage to get the kink out of my neck and almost fell asleep on the table., Its 1130pm and now I'm totaly fried…and this is longer than I planned. I still haven’t gotten to Day 2 the Forbidden City and the 630AM wake up call is looming. I'll just have to try and do some of Forbidden City in the car on the way to the Wall tomorrow morning… that should be interesting.
再见朋友
Zài Jiàn Péng-You
Chuck and the already out like a light
Dragon Lady.
I had run down to the Spa for a quick massage to get the kink out of my neck and almost fell asleep on the table., Its 1130pm and now I'm totaly fried…and this is longer than I planned. I still haven’t gotten to Day 2 the Forbidden City and the 630AM wake up call is looming. I'll just have to try and do some of Forbidden City in the car on the way to the Wall tomorrow morning… that should be interesting.
再见朋友
Zài Jiàn Péng-You
Chuck and the already out like a light
Dragon Lady.
